Our Sun
As part of the 11th edition of the Partcours,, Little Sun and RAW Material Company are proud to present SUÑU JANT, a constellation of artworks scattered around the city. Opening of the exhibition on Wednesday, November 30th from 7pm.
Our Sun is conceived as a kaleidoscope project, a kind of web that has been woven over the years through our encounters and which contributes to the growth of different forms of artistic practice around the issues of climate change. Curated by RAW Material Company, together with Little Sun, Our Sun is a further iteration of an exhibition by the same name that was held at RAW in 2013. As long-time companions, we have journeyed together through various projects that attempt to address common concerns... How can we contribute on our scale to reduce energy deserts, democratize access to clean energy and help to preserve our ecosystems?
For this collaboration, our itinerary starts at RAW. Our space has been designed as a living archive that maps the many initiatives working towards a climate-just future. From both our institutions, we reinvest art projects that call for these reflections more needed than ever. From short films such as Selly Raby Kane's Fast Forward:Jant Yi, and Ezra Wube's Fast Forward:Possible Words to Leviathan, a ten-part film cycle conceived and directed by artist Shezad Dawood that examines some of the pressing issues of our time, of which one episode was filmed in Dakar as part of our residency programme. Or the public programme developed as part of PO4 (Blackout), an exhibition around the work of artist Christian Danielewitz which focuses on the socio-ecological damage caused by the global resource extraction industries.
This quest continues in the city of Dakar where, as part of the Partcours, RAW Material Company and Little Sun invite three artist collectives: KENU Lab'Oratoire des Imaginaires, Yataal Art and Kër Thiossane. In their plural artistic practices, the three collectives challenge the notion of art in the public space on a daily basis, rethinking and reactivating it within the communities where they are anchored. Each artist collective has explored the possibilities of solar energy as the foundation for this future. While the resulting works vary in form (from a weekend neighborhood festival, to a shelter in a night market, to a revitalized community garden, to a textile design workshop for young women), they all offer a vision of our world powered by the sun.
About Little Sun :
Established in 2012 by artist Olafur Eliasson and engineer Frederik Ottesen, Little Sun is an organization working to deliver affordable clean energy in Africa and inspire people to take climate action globally. Little Sun distributes energy tools, designs and implements renewable energy programs, and leads citizen engagement campaigns globally; partnering with solar experts, creatives, companies, governments, communities, and non-profit organizations to achieve universal access to clean energy.
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Sun Of The Night is solar-powered installation that doubles as a hub for artistic programs that explore environmental theme in Senegalese tradition and mythology.
Set in Salagne-salagne, the central market of Dakar’s Ouakam neighborhood, the installation consists of a 12-foot sculpture of a tree surrounded by benches and local flora. The installation is a modern imagining of the Senegalese tradition of the palaver tree, a fixture in living spaces across the country where communities gather to learn, tell stories, and organize. KENU's palaver tree is both a source of protection and light: its large leaves offer passersby a shady place to rest, a solar charging system allows visitors to charge their phones for free, and a solar-powered irrigation system tends to the installation's living greenery. The space is designed as a place where people who gravitate to the market can rest, recharge, and escape the mad rush that punctuates our daily lives.
Over the course of a weekend, the installation will come alive with a series of theater performances, concerts, and community dialogues and workshops. These programs will take inspiration from traditional organizational systems that center nature-related knowledge to guide contemporary responses to the climate crisis both locally and globally.
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Spotlight is a solar-powered community garden at the Soumbédioune elementary school in the historical district of the Medina. In collaboration with the school’s students, Yataal Art has transformed discarded school furniture into raised gardening beds and sculptures. The planters use a solar irrigation system to grow local herbs and vegetables for the students to bring home to their families, and the sculptures designate the garden as a gathering space for the community.
To celebrate the opening of the garden and the rehabilitation of Soumbédioune’s public space, Yataal Art will stage a parade through the surrounding neighborhood that will feature live mural painting sessions, sabars (drum and dance performances), and rollerblading demonstrations.
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Since 2014, Kër Thiossane has collaborated with the Centre de Promotion et de Réinsertion Sociale (CPRS), a neighboring community center that offers vocational training to young women aged 14-20. Over the past eight years, the two organizations have offered students an array of courses on cooking, textile arts, permaculture, and design.
Illuminate The Common is the culmination of a series of workshops for CPRS’ advanced students hosted by artists Claire Eliot, Doulsy-Jah Gal, and Klaus Löhmann at Kër Thiossane’s fabrication lab, Defko Ak Nëp (Do It With Others). Illuminate the Common will feature prototypes for solar paving stones made of recycled plastic; the reactivation of an interactive and luminous Baobab tree; and a fashion show of clothes and accessories integrating photovoltaic ribbons that function as personal solar-powered lighting systems and charging stations.
Illuminate the Common is a playful and interactive proposal at the crossroads of design, recycling (plastic & electronic), and solar energy, to better anchor these issues in public space.